Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Newcastle Port Redevelopment

(i) Calls on the State Government to work with the Federal Government to build a Mayfield portside rail line from the Sandgate junction to service the former BHP site before any proposed redevelopment occurs.

(ii) Calls on the State Government to work with the Federal Government to build the Tourle St Bridge and Kooragang road network duplication to service Kooragang Island, Stockton and Newcastle Airport.

(iii) Calls on the State Government to release to the public its Master Port Plan and to expedite an Integrated Port Planning Strategy for the port that would include proper consideration of the cumulative impacts of all the proposed port redevelopment on nearby residents, strategies to reduce this impact and proper consultation with residents.

(iv) Calls on the State Government to install dust monitoring equipment to measure fine particulates in all suburbs in the Newcastle area that surround the Port and to make this monitoring data available to the Newcastle community.

2. That Newcastle Council write to all relevant State and Federal MPs to enlist their support for these proposals.

3. That Newcastle Council reiterates its support for the Newcastle freight bypass rail line to improve the efficiency of freight movements on the rail network and to improve passenger train movements in the Newcastle area. The Newcastle freight bypass rail line would stop the excessive delays at the Adamstown gates for example.

4. That Newcastle Council invites the Newcastle Port Corporation, the Port Waratah Coal Service, Buildev and the Tinkler Hunter Ports group to address Council on their proposed plans for the redevelopment of the Newcastle Port.BACKGROUND

Newcastle Port Corporation has developed a Concept Plan for the proposed redevelopment of a 90-hectare portside portion of the former BHP Steelworks site which includes seven new wharfs to support several cargo precincts. These precincts include:

• General Purpose Precinct a flexible facility to handle and store cargo containers, heavy machinery, Roll On Roll Off and break bulk cargo.

• Container Terminal Precinct with a trade volume of 1 million twenty foot equivalent units per annum at final development.

• Bulk Liquid Precinct used for storage, blending and distribution of high quality fuels and biofuels.

Newcastle Port Corporation is predicting a significant amount of these exports will be arriving through Newcastle to the Port by road (see Attachment 1). Newcastle Port Corporation have predicted, that when the precincts are fully developed, each year 800,000 containers, 1,010 million litres of fuel and 3.1 million tonnes of other products will be transported through Newcastle by road

A significant amount of this material (including all the containers) would be kept off the roads if the State Government invested in a rail line on the Mayfield side of the Hunter River South Arm.

Buildev is developing plans for the other 60-hectare portion of the former BHP site, known as the Intertrade Industrial Park. The proposed developments for this site have not been released yet.

This Mayfield Portside rail line would connect from the Kooragang spur line at Sandgate to the former BHP site and onto the Carrington Coal terminal rail facilities, the grain terminal and the general wharf freight lines in the area (see Attachment 2).

The exact route would need to be determined by detailed investigation but it is important to note that much of the required corridor is currently vacant.

Most of the freight (including all the coal to the Carrington terminal) would use the new Mayfield Portside rail line. This would significantly reduce freight movements (including coal) past Warabrook, Mayfield, Waratah, Georgetown, Islington and Tighes Hill and allow for the revitalisation of these suburbs.

This rail line would also provide options for Steel River businesses and other commercial operators like One Steel and Koppers.

This proposal would mesh perfectly with the proposed freight rail bypass for the Region and the proposed rail freight hub in the vicinity of Beresfield.

Council should reiterate its support for the Newcastle freight bypass rail line because it will improve passenger train movements in the Newcastle area and stop the excessive delays at the Adamstown gates for example.

About Me

I am a Greens Councillor on Newcastle City Council, an environmental engineer, a worker for social and environmental change and am the coordinator of the Green Corridor Coalition, a coalition of more than 50 community groups dedicated to protecting biodiversity corridors in the Hunter.